


A Night They'll Never Forget

by SolarEclair



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Jealousy, M/M, Prom, Romance, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 12:52:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18993034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarEclair/pseuds/SolarEclair
Summary: Larry Johnson did not want to go to prom, but something in Sal's eyes told Larry that Sal needed this. So he dressed himself up to do the one thing he hated. But, maybe something about this night will give him the courage to say the things he's always felt inside.Rated Teen for strong language.





	A Night They'll Never Forget

     Prom had to be one of Ash's worst ideas.

     The stuffy clothes mixed with bad drinks and sweaty teens pining after each other. It made Larry feel sick just thinking about it. But when Ash had brought it up, something in Sal's eyes said he needed this. After everything that had gone on in the last year, he needed something that felt normal, and like hell Larry wouldn't give that to him. 

     So he said fuck it, he pulled out one of his dad's old suites and his mom helped him size it down. It wasn't something either of them really knew how to do, and all the pin pricks on his sides proved that. But once he had put the final product on, it actually fit it pretty well. The dark suede pants fell just a little short, barely showing his argyle socks, but the vest curved around his waist just right. 

     He decided against the jacket long before they began poking needles into his sides. He wanted to maintain some level of comfort. Besides, the damn thing smelled like moth balls and made him and his mom go into a sneezing fit. After their noses had recovered they debated about burning the damn thing, but settled on chucking it in the trash. 

     Larry looked in the bathroom mirror, stains from toothpaste dotting the bottom, and a few hearts burned into the edges of the mirror. He smiled remembering the night Sal and Larry had figured the trick out, and had to physically stop themselves from ruining every mirror they saw. 

     He was happy with the suit, but his hair was a wild mess, he had taken a shower last night, hoping to save himself some time today, but his hair did not agree. After running his brush through the tangled locks it only got worse. 

     "Shit," he said to the mirror. He mulled over the idea of canceling the whole thing over a bad hair day, but he knew Sal would be upset. So he rummaged through his drawers looking everywhere for his hair ties. He knew one of them had to be somewhere, though where he wasn't sure. He had gotten in a bad habit of tossing them in the sink when he took a shower and they tended to disappear before he got out. 

     But none of them turned up. He slammed the cabinet closed, in the process one of the extra shampoo bottles tumbled out and rolled across the floor. He picked it up and threw it back into the cabinet, knowing he'd regret it later when he went for some toilet paper, but that was future Larry's problem. Present Larry needed a fucking hair tie. He looked up at the mirror exasperated, and sighed as something blue caught his eye. He looked down and found a single shimmering teal hair tie dangling over the faucet. 

     "Thanks." He said to the soft chuckle floating above him. "Now, let's hope I can make this mess into something." He played around with his hair, trying a simple ponytail, but the fuzz of his hair still stuck past his shoulders. He pulled it up into a bun, but that just looked like a rat's nest plastered to his head. Finally he tried braiding some of the more difficult sections of hair, leaving the curled ends tight against each other and pulled the mix of free hair and braids into a low hanging bun. He pulled out some of his strands, still letting his hair frame his face. He messed with the top of his head, ruffling it up, giving himself some volume and quickly spritzed a bit of his mom's hair spray on top of his handy work. 

     He took a step back, looking at himself, he realized quickly that he looked like a mess, but it seemed to work for him. He couldn't completely clean up, or how else would his friends recognize him? 

     He smiled at his reflection, pleased with his work. 

     As he stepped out he heard the distinctive click of a camera as he lost all his vision, "Shit Ma."

     "Oh, you look so handsome!" She walked up and pressed some of his hair down, ruining a bit of his work. "I knew the suit would look good."

     "Yeah, as long as I make sure to hide the blood stains." He said, but still smiled as his eyes adjusted. 

     She gently nudged her hip against his, and pushed his chin up towards the camera. She quickly smiled and another flash bombarded Larry's vision. He felt her move away from him as spots danced in his vision. 

     Larry pressed his hands against his eyes, watching an intergalactic slideshow appear, "If you keep this up, I'll be blind before I make it out the door." 

     His mom only chuckled in response, "Oh please, just wait till we get Sal in the pictures." She said, sighing to herself. Larry could already hear the tale-tell beginning of his mother's tears. "I remember when you two were just kids, and now my little men are going off-"

     "Ma! Geeze, it's just prom!" He smiled at her, trying to get rid of any weird emotions bouncing off of her. "Do you want to come up with me to get Sally?"

     Her eyes widened as she smiled at him, "I'd thought you'd never ask!" She quickly slung her arm around her son, barring Larry from any further protests. 

     While he seemed annoyed it was kind of nice to see his mom all excited about this. She even took the evening off work to make sure he was all ready to go. Not that it meant anything to any of the tenants, many of them would still call for her and he knew she'd be going to help as soon as he left. 

     The two of them took the elevator up, Lisa pulling at Larry's clothes, ruining his perfect disaster with a mothers precision. But before she could fully fix his hair the elevator thankfully dinged. Larry quickly slipped out and lead the way down the hall to Sal's place. He could hear his mom humming to herself and for the second time tonight he was actually glad he was going to prom. If something this small meant anything to his mom, he would do it in a heartbeat. 

     Once they go to Sal's door, Larry almost opened the door on instinct, but he didn't want to intrude if Sal was still getting ready. So this time he knocked. 

     He heard shuffling behind the door and Sal's dad calling out saying he'd get the door. And shortly the door swung open to reveal a tired man, but still a smile inching up his cheeks. 

     "Hey Larry," He said catching eyes with him, "You look great!"

     "Thanks, Mr. Fisher. You don't look bad yourself." Larry smiled. 

     "Oh, well um," Mr. Fisher looked down at his sweater vest, crumbs of chips still clinging to his stomach, "Thanks." 

     Larry looked just past him towards Sal's room, "Is he back there?"

     Mr. Fisher shook his head, "No, he's in the bathroom, should be out shortly. Do you two want to come in?"

     Lisa nodded as Mr. Fisher stood aside for the two of them to walk in. Larry could already smell Sal throughout the apartment, the vanilla of his shampoo mixed with the slightest hint of rubbing alcohol from his mask. But there was a clear stench of rum mixed into the room, Larry sighed. He knew Mr. Fisher had gotten better about everything, but still a drink is still a drink. 

     Larry made his way to the kitchen, knowing that Sal would have some juice packs in his fridge, and thankfully he was right. He pulled out two, already assuming Sal would want one if Larry had one. As he tried to punch the straw through the hole he heard the bathroom door open. 

     And his heart stopped. 

     Sal stood in front of all of them, but he didn't take his eyes of Larry wanting his approval first. But Larry was speechless. Sal had found a beautifully dark dress that hugged his waist and fell out in soft ruffles from his hips. Some of them had been removed leaving spaces where Sal's legs, wrapped in fishnet stockings, poked through. Sal raised his hand pushing a strand of curled blue hair behind his ear, and Larry swore he saw something shining in Sal's hair. 

     "Too much?" Sal asked, a smile evident in his voice.

     Larry just shook his head, something was pinching his hand but he didn't want to look away. "You look, um great." He said, his voice cracking as he tried to cover it up. 

     Sal just laughed, "Thanks!" 

     "Alright, boys. Get together for a picture!" Lisa said, not waiting a minute longer. 

     Larry just nodded, seemingly hypnotized by Sal. 

     "Dude, you going to hold the juice pouch in the picture?" Sal asked. 

     That seemed to bring Larry back to reality, he looked down at his hands, the straw gently stabbing his thumb. Larry almost wasn't present as he placed the pouch on the counter. It wasn't until Sal placed his cool hand against Larry's back that he was brought back to reality. He looked down at Sal as he was lead back to the pose. Larry put his arm around Sal's waist, squeezing just enough so that Sal knew. 

     After some blinding lights the two of them were saved by a knock at the door. 

     "It's probably Todd." Sal said, getting ready to greet him. 

     "Are you boys sure you don't want me to drive you?" Mr. Fisher asked. 

     Larry just shook his head, the lights clearing his fog, "Nah, Neil said he'd get us there."

     Mr. Fisher just sighed, "If you say so." He turned to his son, catching him before Sal answered the door, "You coming back tonight?"

     Sal shrugged, reaching for the door knob, "Not sure. ‘may sleep over at Larry's if it gets late." he quickly turned to Lisa, "If that's alright?"

     Lisa just smiled, "Of course it is."

     When Sal opened the door, Larry was impressed to see a well dressed Todd staring back at them. He'd really cleaned up, losing the sandals and donning a black suit with an amber bowtie. 

     "You look great!" Sal said, throwing his arms up. 

     Todd smirked, "Yeah, but I think you take the cake man."

     Sal brushed him off and turned to Larry, "You ready?"

     Larry just smiled, "Course." He walked over and gave his mom a quick kiss on the cheek, "See ya later."

     She pulled him into a quick hug and whispered in his ear, "Love you, Lar-bear."

     He rolled his eyes with a smile, "Love you too, Mama Bear."

     As the three of them got downstairs, Todd was suddenly very concerned with his bowtie and whether or not if he matched too well with his hair. It didn’t take long for Larry to smack him on the back - a little harder than he intended. 

     Todd jumped, “What the hell?” his eyes even wider behind the glasses. 

     “Dude, chill. Neil is going to love it.”

     At that, Todd smiled, mostly to the ground, but a smile nonetheless. 

     It didn’t take long for Neil to arrive, his truck announcing his presence before they could see him rounding the bend. He had gotten it as a birthday gift from his parents, it was old and busted and had too many sounds to fix, but it was the crew’s only means of transportation and they loved it. 

     Excuse me, Him. 

     His name was Ted.

     As Ted pulled to a stop and with a puff of black smoke, Neil rounded the front of the truck. It was like you could see fireworks going off in his eyes the moment he looked at Todd. His smile sang and it seemed to be all he could do not to topple Todd here and now. 

     Neil had dressed in a simple suit but there were tell tale signs of something sparkling on his jacket, the headlights of his truck making him shine. 

     Todd slowly inched towards Neil, almost as if he had forgotten that they were in fact already dating. Neil quickly closed the gap between the two of them and pulled Todd into a kiss that could have made Larry swoon for them. 

     Instead Larry just smiled and pulled Sal with him towards the truck, “We should give them a moment.”

     Sal just nodded, and followed Larry to the back seat. Another downside to this truck was it’s height. It seemed to be made for people with legs for days, which never bothered Larry, but for Sal, he struggled. Normally he’d just crawl into the back seat, probably earning himself a couple new bruises on his knees, but with the dress, that made things difficult. 

     Larry watched as Sal opened the door and pondered the many ways he could ruin his outfit by crawling into the truck. But before any plans could go through Larry gently put his hands around Sal’s waist, and turned him to face Larry. And before Sal could ask, Larry just smiled at him and lifted Sal sliding him back into the seat. The two of them stared for a moment, Sal’s legs parted to make room for Larry, while Larry’s arms lingered on each side of Sal. 

     Larry could see Sal’s ears begin to burn red as he avoided Larry’s eyes.

     At this Larry felt a surge of confidence “You look really great, if I didn’t say so earlier.” He said, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from his prosthetic. “I kind of feel underdressed next to you.”

     Sal quickly shook his head, “No, you look amazing!” Sal looked at him with wide eyes trying to get rid of any of Larry’s doubts. 

     Larry felt his heart skip a beat once more, “Well, thank you.” He smiled once more, as Sal seemed to blush harder. 

     Before Larry could say anything more, the drivers door opened as Neil pulled himself in, “Looks like Chug is coming down now, y’all ready?”

     Larry tried not to feel annoyed at Neil as he pushed himself away from Sal, giving Sal room to scoot down to the other seat, “Ready as can be.” He gripped the handle over the door and pulled himself into the truck, seating himself behind Todd. 

     Neil looked back at the two of them in the rear view mirror, “Do we need to get Ash too?”

     Sal shook his head, “Nah, she said her dad was going to bring her and Maple.” 

     Larry looked out the door and saw Chug running up to the car, pulling at the edges of his suit that just didn’t fit. Larry scooched closer to Sal, telling himself that he was making room for Chug, but he knew what he really wanted. 

     Chug pulled himself into the car and smiled at Neil, “Thanks for waiting!”

     Neil looked back at him in the mirror, “Course, and you look very spiffy Chug.”

     Their conversation began to drown out, Larry was close enough to Sal that once again he could smell something hypnotizing about him. He forced himself not to get lost in the man next to him, telling himself to calm down and wait. But then he felt the soft brush of Sal’s hand against his own. Larry had to wrench his eyes forward, doing everything in his power to convince himself that it was just an accident. Larry was just leaning too much on his hand. keeping himself from leaning too much on Sal or crushing his gown. 

     But that didn’t make sense when the soft touch began running up and down his palm, almost absent mindedly. This time Larry couldn’t pull himself away, he looked back at those bright blue eyes and he knew it wasn’t a mistake. 

     But the moment couldn’t last, Neil pulled up to the school far too fast and he felt Chug practically tumble out of the car. The door behind Sal opened, and his hand was ripped away from Larry’s. 

     Neil gave another signature smile, “You boys excited?” He said, offering Sal a hand out of the truck. 

     “The most!” Sal said, stepping gracefully onto the pavement. 

     Larry managed a laugh, “You going to help me too, Prince Charming?”

     “Why of course, where would my princess be without her prince,” he said with a wink. 

     But there was no helping Larry, as Todd came around the bend jabbing Neil in the side. “No flirting with my friends.” He said, a smile still plastered on his face. 

     “Aw, I’m sorry babe.” Neil said. 

     Larry made his way out of the truck and away from the two love birds trying to get rid of the lingering jealousy. Not of them, but of what they were doing. 

     It wasn’t long before the crew made their way down the halls, the ceiling decorated with paper streamers holding the soft glow of the fluorescent lights above them. The shadows it created on the walls reminded Larry of the apartments, and for the briefest of moments, he imagined himself wandering the halls once again looking for ghosts. He could smell the damp mildew of the walls and hear the scratching of something beyond his eyes.

     But his reverie was broken at the sound of Back Street Boy's filling the hall.

     He rolled his eyes and groaned, "Is that the music they'll be playing all night?"

     Sal laughed, "Maybe we can sneak in something good once the teachers get trashed."

     "Now that's a plan." Larry said, placing his arm around Sal's waist leading the two of them towards the punch table. 

     Larry wasn't sure what the theme of this damn party was, but the decorations looked amazing. Streamers of grey, white, and blue spilled from the ceiling. The lights dimmed but still hiding in the streamers themselves, leaving the shadows to dance along the edges of the room. Something was glowing on the ceiling, spots of white and green dotted the blackened sky. It was dark but something beautiful lay hidden away for all of them to find.

     Larry felt something tug at his hand, he looked to his side and found Sal tugging him towards the center of the gym. “Let’s go, we need to da-” 

     Before he could finish a flash of purple cut him off, “Sal!”

     His laugh came through only muffled by the brush of fabric over his mask. “Ash!”

     Ash took a step back carefully analyzing Sal’s ensemble, after a quick fix of his hair she smiled, “It looks amazing!”

     “Thanks, and you look super cool!” He said. 

     He wasn’t wrong, Ash looked great, her purple dress cut short above her knees with black  crinoline falling out the sides. Her black boots only added to her look, highlighting the dark makeup around her eyes. 

     “Of course I do!” She said spinning around her dress puffing up around her. “Now are we going to dance to this lame ass song or what?”

     Sal followed her onto the floor, and Larry pushed back those feelings of jealousy once more. He need to just enjoy the night for Sal, it wasn’t the time to push himself onto him just yet. 

     The three of them spun and danced, feeling the music of other flow through them. For once, the threats of the world fell apart around them, letting the team enjoy the night. 

     But it wasn’t meant to last, Larry watched as Sal spun himself around, mimicking Ash. Something behind him dashed around and Larry was just too slow to pull him back in before Sal ran into the person behind him. Sal quickly stopped turning to apologize to the person he ran into, but as the person turned around Larry quickly pulled Sal close to him.

     His sneer was hard to miss, along with that dirty blond hair, “Watch it!” Travis spat. 

     Larry balled up his fist, ready to fix Travis’s problem, but the sneer on his face dissolved the moment he locked eyes with Sal. Something that made Sal move forward, but Larry wasn’t going to fall for it. “Beat it, Travis.”

     Sal placed a cool hand on Larry’s arm, “It’s okay.” He said, then looked at Travis, “Sorry, should’ve watched where I was going.”

     Travis shook his head to Larry’s surprise, “No, it’s fine.” He ran his hand through his perfectly combed hair, and looked at Sal as the locks fell back over his eyes. “You look good.”

     Sal nodded, “Thanks, and you look very nice as well.”

     Larry just rolled his eyes, “Sal, are we done?”

     Sal didn’t look away from Travis and something in Larry’s chest began to hurt. “I hope you enjoy the dance Travis. And remember, you have my number.”

     Travis just nodded, looking at Larry then stealing one more glance at Sal before walking off to the food table. 

     Larry turned to Sal, “What the fuck does that mean?”

     Sal just shrugged, “Thought he could use someone to talk to.”

     Larry’s blood began to boil, his nails biting into the palm of his hand. This was not how the night was supposed to go. “Like that pit stain needs you?”

     Sal took a step back, Larry’s anger reflected in his eyes, “He doesn’t have too much of anyone Lar. I just wanted him to know that someone’s got his back.”

     “That guy has been a fucking dick to you since you moved here and you think he deserves your attention!?” Larry knew he was getting too loud, Ash had already stopped dancing, Todd and Neil closing in. 

     “It’s not about deserving, it’s about what someone needs!” Sal’s eyes began to water and Larry knew he needed to stop but he couldn’t his thoughts were moving too fast. All he could see was Sal and that fucker Travis talking all night, when Larry was the one he should be talking to. 

_      No, that’s wrong _ . He thought to himself,  _ He doesn’t fucking own Sal.  _

_      But God Dammit, why does it have to be Travis.  _

     Larry turned, he needed to get out of this fucking gym. He needed to breath and think. 

     He needed a cigarette. 

     Larry turned on his heel, ignoring Sal’s calls, he was afraid that if he stayed he’d say something he didn’t mean. Something that would ruin everything. 

     The night was cool, the real stars glistening against the void. He took a deep breath and sighed as smoke poured out from his lips. Flicking the ash from the red tipped cigarette as he looked at the ground. The gravel mismatched against the red dirt, a sad contrast to the beauty of the night. 

     He was a fucking idiot and he knew it. This whole fucking thing was supposed to be for Sal and he was so focused on…

     Larry shook his head, he didn’t know what he expected. Sal is his friend, no one could replace him and Larry had to go and make things weird because of a stupid -

     “Hey.”

     Larry looked up, Sal’s blue hair shining under the streetlamp as he walked toward the bench. Larry swallowed his thought, “Hey.”

     “You okay?” Sal asked, sitting next to Larry, closer than he needed to. 

     Larry nodded, ignoring the feelings, “I’m sorry.”

     Sal shook his head, “No, it’s fine. I should have told you about it.”

     “No, Sal -”

     “Let me finish,” Larry looked into his eyes, something serious holding Larry back. “You’re right, Travis has been a royal ass to me since I met him. But I figured out why a few months ago.” Sal said, pulling at the hem of his dress, “I talked to him and it sounded like he needed someone to talk to so I offered an ear.”

     Larry chucked, pulling another drag from his cigarette, “You’re too nice for your own good.”

     Sal shrugged, “I just don’t like the thought of people feeling alone.”

     At that Larry looked at Sal, his blue waves fallen from their high perch and hiding those blue eyes away. 

     “The first time I slept over, we’d only known each other a few weeks, and I was having another night terror.” He said, his fingers beginning to shake, “You woke up so fast and you just threw your arms around me, trying to calm me down. I had no idea what to do. And yet, you acted like it was fine. You threw up some shitty movie and we stayed up all night talking about the stupidest shit.

     “Then you told me to call you anytime on the walkie when it happened again, and I wasn’t sure if you meant it. Hell the first time I called it took me twenty minutes just to work up the courage and even though I could tell I woke you up, you never complained. You never told me no, you just stayed up with me.”

     Larry reached over taking Sal’s shaking hands in his, “Sal I-”

     “No, I’m not done,” He said, but he didn’t take his hands away from Larry’s. “With you I never felt alone, and now I just want to share that with someone else, I want Travis to know he’s not alone. I want to give him what you’ve given me.” He finally looked at Larry, tears in his eyes. “Is it wrong?”

     “No,”  _ Fuck _ , Larry was wrong, “God, no Sal.” Larry didn’t want him to feel like that ever, and if he wanted to do something like that how could he have ever gotten mad. The fucking jealousy was consuming him and he wouldn’t let it anymore. Sal needed a friend and not whatever Larry was trying to be.

     Sal just nodded, pulling at the bottom strap of his mask to wipe away those salty tears. “Thanks.” He said, not bothering to reclasp it. “I’m sorry…”

     Larry could hardly suppress a laugh, “The fuck do you have to be sorry about? Man, you didn’t just blow up in front of the whole school just because you were a little bit jealous.” 

_      Fuck.  _

     Fuck, he did not just say that. He did not just tell Sal he was jealous.

     Maybe he won’t notice, maybe he’ll just brush it off. 

     “Jealous?” He asked, something twinkling in his eye.

_      Shit. _

     Larry laughed, trying to play cool, “Yeah, uh, you know, jealous that Travis is um…” He trailed off, not sure where he was going.

     “Larry Johnson, do you…” Sal began, but something held him back from finishing his question. 

     “No,” He said, “Of course, not.” he cleared his throat, “I mean, unless you..” he trailed off, his words getting lost before they even were discovered.

     Sal didn’t speak this time, he just looked at Larry, watching his amber eyes trying to get a read on this moment. But rather than saying anything he slowly lifted the bottom of his mask, and leaned forward, “Is this what you wanted?” He said, their lips so close Larry could taste the punch from a party long forgotten. 

     Larry was speechless only able to mutter a quick, “Yes.” before Sal pressed his broken lips against Larry’s own. 

     The sky seemed to explode, the stars of the night surrounding both of them while the moon shone over them in a soft glow. The cigarette forgotten in Larry’s hand, the smoke burning to the ends, ash falling to the ground. They forgot about the world around them, ignored the laughter just beyond the doors and the cars streaming past on the street across. In this moment, it was just the two of them lost in their moment of bliss. 

     Slowly Sal pulled away, Larry’s breath heavy over his, “You okay?” Sal asked. 

     Larry just nodded, the world slowly coming back into place, the music of the party flowing back into the night, while the stars gently put themselves back in place. Larry reached up, about to push his hair out of his face when the slight burn on his finger reminded him of his cigarette. 

     “Shit,” he said, tossing the damn thing into the dirt, rubbing the end of his finger.

     Sal just laughed, “Am I that good?”

     Larry looked back at Sal, seeing his bright ocean eyes, still slightly red from earlier but now the sadness had washed away. “I don’t know, maybe I need to check again.”

     Sal smiled, leaning in once more, locking in the kiss of of a lifetime. Larry reached up behind Sal, pulling down his mask and placing his hand on Sal’s cheek. He let himself lean into the indents of his face, letting himself go with the man that made his heart soar. 

     Larry was lost as he fell into that ocean and never looked back.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!!!
> 
> Now I know I am absolutely terrible at describing clothes but I hope you enjoyed the fic! Please let me know if you have any comments about how I can improve!!!
> 
> Thanks again!


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